Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1887-08-12

wreck were wounded and unhurt men,
women and children whose lives could be
saved if they could be gotten out, but
certain if the twisted wood Of the broken
cars caught fire. To fight fire there was
not sufficient depth Of water and only
fifty able bodied men who had still pres
ence of mind and nerve enough to do their
duty: The only light was the light of the
burning bridge and with so much of it the
fifty men went to work to subdue it, For
four hours victory hung in the balance.
Earth was the only weapon with which
the tre could be fought, and so an attempt
was made to smother it out. There was no
pick or shovel to dig it up, no baskets or
borrows to carry it in, and so desperately
they dug their finger down III the earth
which a long g'drouth had baked almost as
fuls upon the encroaching flames, and
with this earth work kept back the foe.
While this was going on other brave men
crept underneath the wrecked cars be-
meath the fire and wooden cars which held
prisoners so many precious lives, and with
pieces of board and sometimes their hands
beat back the flames when they flashed up
alongside of some unfortunate wretch
FINALLY voctOry was won. The fire was
put out and as its last spark died away
light come up in the east to take its place,
and dawn rose on
A SCENE OF HORROR.
While the fight had been going on men,
women and children had been dying
and and there were not so many wounded to
take out as there had been four hours be-
fore. But in the meantime the country
had been aroused and help had come from
Chatswortb, Forest and Piper City, and as
the dead were laid reverently along side of
each other out in a corn field there were
ready hands to take them into ChatswOrth,
while some of the wounded were carried
to Piper City. One hundred and eighteen
was
T. THE AWFUL PAIL OF THE DEAD,
while the wounded number four times that
many. The full tale. of the dead cannot
however, be told yet for some days. Chats
worth was turned into mOrgue. To-day
the town hall, engine house and depot
were all full of dead bodies, while every
house in the little village had it's quota of
wounded. There were over 100 corpses
lying in extemporized dead houses and
every man and woman was turned into an
amateur but Jealous nurse. When the
news of the disaster was first flashed over
the wires, prompt aid was at once sent
Dr. Steele, chief surgeon of the Toledo,
Peoria u We stern road, had come on at
once in special train and with him were
From Peoria came Drs. Martin, Baker.
Flagoere and johnson, and from every city
whence the unfortunate eXcursioniSts had
come their physicians and friends hurried
on to help them. From Peoria had also
come delegations of Red Men and Ancient
Order Of United Workmen, a number of
both societies being on the ill-fated tram,
and so after 8 O'Clock in the morning there
were plenty of people to do the work that
needed such prompt attention. In the
town hall was the main hospital and down
in the dead houses fathers, husbands. sis:
ters, brothers, wives and children tearfully
inspected each face as it was uncovered.
The entire capacity of the little village
was taxed, and kind hearted women drove
in from miles to give their gentle minis
tratlons to the sufferers. No sooner had
the wreck occurred than
A SCENE OF ROBBERY
commenced. Some band of unspeakable
miscreants was on hand to plunder the
dead and take even the shoes which cov-
cred their feet. Who these wretches are
band Of pickpockets who accompanied the
train or some robber gang who were
lurking in the vicinity cannot be said A
horrible suspicion exists and there are
many who give it credence that the acci-
dent was
DELIBERATELY PLANNED CASE OF TRAIN
WRECKING,
that the bridge was set on fire by mis-
creants to sieze the opportunity which
offered. The fact that the bridge was so
far consumed at the time the train came
along, added to the fact that the train was
an hour and half late,is pointed out as ev-
licences of conspiracy. These fiends in
human form went into the cars when the
fire was burning fercely underneath and
when the poor Wretches VINO were pinned
there begged them for Gods sake" to help
them out, stripped them of their watches
and jewelry and searched their pockets
for money. When the dead bodies were
laid out in the corn field these hyenas
turned them over in their, search for valua-
bles. That the plunder was done by an
that this morning out in a cOrnfeld sixteen
purses, all empty, were found in one heap.
THE DEAD.
The following is partial list of the
dead:
X. E. STOCKMAN, Peoria.
MRS. STEVENS and father.
NIKE REAGAN, Binghampton.
VIM. CRAIG, Cuba, Ill.
AENRY H1CKsON, Pekin, III.
noah HovERMALE, Canton, Ill.
M. SMITH, Metamora. LII.
GEORGE A. SMITH, Peoria.
Mrs. ZIMMERMAN, Peoria.
RORA and MAGGIE MURPHY and mother,
PEORIA -
MISS MAGGIE MATvow Peoria